1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an antimicrobial filter medium and an apparatus and a method for fabricating the same. More specifically, the disclosure relates to an antimicrobial filter medium with improved antimicrobial property and microbe capture ability wherein gaseous antimicrobial nanoparticles are uniformly coated onto the filter medium and conductive members are attached on both sides of the filter medium, and an apparatus and a method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As concerns over health and environment increase gradually, purification of indoor air directly affecting human health is becoming an important social issue. It is because the time spent indoors is increasing in modern society and thus the effect of indoor environment on our lives is also increasing.
Various airborne microorganisms can be harmful to the human body float in indoor air, including bacteria, fungi and viruses. These microorganisms cause airborne infections and environmental diseases and may negatively affect the human body and environment. Although these airborne microorganisms can be primarily filtered by an air filter used to remove dust, microorganisms of sub-micron sizes such as bacteria and viruses are not filtered by common air filters. To remove bacteria, viruses, etc., a high-performance filter with a very small filter pore size is necessary. But, the increased pressure across the filter may lead to increased load of the air filter system. And, unlike other airborne particles, airborne microorganisms may proliferate on the surface of the filter medium depending on the environmental and nutritional conditions and may be brought indoors again and generate microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) causing offensive odor.
To solve these problems, a method of coating an organic or inorganic antibacterial agent in liquid state on the surface of a filter medium is proposed to suppress the proliferation of microorganisms (Korean Patent Publication No. 2009-4611). However, since most of the existing methods including that of Korean Patent Publication No. 2009-4611 adopt a strategy of coating an antibacterial agent in liquid state on the filter surface, a large amount of the antibacterial agent is necessary and the method is inapplicable to high-performance filters. In addition, the antibacterial agent adheres to the surface of a filter medium nonuniformly and additional drying and purification processes are necessary.
Besides, the existing antimicrobial filter has the problem that microbe capture ability decreases with time.